Wu Wang considered himself a veteran Spirit Calamity Player, having survived several Instances.

Then again, thanks to the Abyss God, the process had become a bit surreal every time.

He didn’t even use the game’s standard teleportation after the 【Masquerade Ball】 Instance. Mary had sailed him back herself.

He thought he’d seen it all.

But he had never, ever seen anything like this.

Wu Wang couldn’t help but curse.

“Holy shit! Where the fuck did it send me? Am I still in the country?”

Under normal circumstances, his return to reality was simple. He would either appear in the Settlement Space or be sent back directly to where he came from.

But this time, after the familiar darkness cleared from his vision, he found himself in a completely unknown environment.

He had arrived in a desolate wasteland.

The ground was a great desert of endless, barren yellow sand stretching as far as the eye could see. The sky above was a hazy gray, radiating a profound sense of desolation.

It wasn’t just uninhabited.

Within his line of sight, he couldn’t spot a single stone or even a blade of dry grass. There was only the endless yellow sand.

Nothing else existed.

Wu Wang had already been walking forward for five or six hours, yet the scenery remained exactly the same, without the slightest change.

It was as if time and space had lost all meaning here.

【Player #9527’s return teleportation has encountered an anomaly】

【System is investigating the cause…】

【Unknown error! Unknown error!】

【System is correcting the error…】

【Correction in progress. Estimated time: 72 hours】

Wu Wang froze as the sudden voice of the Spirit Calamity Game echoed in his ear.

He couldn’t stop himself from cursing again.

“Your fucking system bugged out? Again? Why is it always me? And an estimated seventy-two hours? Do you think anyone else could survive in this godforsaken place for seventy-two hours?”

A single glance was enough to tell there was no source of water or food here. Not just anyone could endure that kind of torment for three full days.

Just as Wu Wang was about to check the Abyss God’s Mark for another way to leave, a loud bang echoed from the hazy gray sky.

Crack!

A sharp, crisp sound, like shattering glass, reverberated across the sand-filled sky as a crack split open above him.

The next second, a familiar tide of black water surged from the fissure. Treading upon the Sea of Filth, the 【Spirit Venerable of the Sea of Desire】 slowly appeared.

She was still her familiar, entirely grayish-white self.

The moment he saw the Venerable, Wu Wang rushed forward and hugged her thigh like a pouncing tiger.

“Big Boss! What is this wretched place? I’ve been worshiping you here for who knows how many years and have finally summoned your great response. Are you here to take this devout believer home?”

Wu Wang shamelessly adopted the title of devout believer. The moment the 【Spirit Venerable of the Sea of Desire】 appeared, he realized his presence here was most likely connected to this Big Boss.

Besides the yellow sand and hazy sky, this place felt far too similar to an Audience Space. It had the same boundlessness, the same blurring of time and space.

The 【Spirit Venerable of the Sea of Desire】’s expression turned playful.

“Oh? Worshiped me for who knows how many years?”

She looked down at him.

“But how come I saw you trying to run away for the past five hours, twenty-six minutes, and eight seconds? Your devotion is cheap indeed.”

Faced with the Big Boss’s teasing, Wu Wang wasn’t the least bit intimidated.

He immediately spoke with righteous conviction.

“You’re mistaken. True piety comes from the heart. I am thinking of you every moment of every day.”

The 【Spirit Venerable of the Sea of Desire】 let out a chuckle.

“From the heart? Don’t you forget, I command the Authority of 【Desire】. I can see the complete lack of reverence in the depths of your heart as clear as day. Would an ordinary believer dare to maneuver between the schemes of several Venerables, or even steal the fruits of 【Hope】’s labor?”

Wu Wang silently confirmed his suspicions. As expected, she knew about the seed of the 【Tree of Sighs】.

As for the rest, he didn’t deny it. He truly felt no reverence for so-called Venerables and Divine Envoys. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have told that dark joke when facing the Cherub.

“Alright, no need to mind it. I quite like your blasphemous arrogance.”

The 【Spirit Venerable of the Sea of Desire】 bent down and scooped up a handful of yellow sand. She blew on it gently, and the sand scattered into the air.

Her chilling words came without warning.

“That bitch 【Hope】 got flustered and angry. She wanted to interfere with your return teleportation and pull you directly into an Audience. A certain Divine Envoy who shares the Authority of 【Suffering】 with a masochist is also interested in you. Or rather, in the results of those three’s experiment. She wants to see you, too.”

The corner of Wu Wang’s mouth twitched.

He didn’t think for a second that 【Hope】 wanted to pull him into an Audience for a friendly chat. He was, after all, the main culprit who destroyed Aiguyi Town and the thief who stole the seed of the 【Tree of Sighs】.

As for that Divine Envoy… she must be the objective of his 【Audience with the Divine Envoy of Suffering】 Side Quest. Did that mean he still had a chance to complete it?

“Don’t worry, they can’t find you,” the 【Spirit Venerable of the Sea of Desire】 said lazily. “When that bitch tried to intercept your return teleportation, I threw you into this 【God-Forsaken Land】 ahead of time. No being can perceive you here.”

She added with a smirk, “The thought of that bitch and that other masochistic freak out there, tearing their hair out in frustration, just makes me want to laugh.”

Wu Wang’s expression went blank.

So it really was you who threw me into this barren wasteland!

Since she’d put it that way, it seemed he wouldn’t be meeting the 【Divine Envoy of Suffering】 after all.

Speaking of which, Wu Wang was a little curious. Why was the Authority of 【Suffering】 in the hands of two different beings? The status of a Venerable and a Divine Envoy should be equal, which would apply to the 【Lord of Suffering】 and this 【Divine Envoy of Suffering】.

Who would be willing to split their own power equally with someone else?

“Wait a minute, I’m getting ahead of myself,” Wu Wang said, his expression turning ugly. “Do your words mean that I’ll have to stay here forever from now on?”

It seemed he had been illegally detained. Damn it, I’m going to call the cops on you! he thought.

The 【Spirit Venerable of the Sea of Desire】 shook her head.

“You? You’re not worthy of staying here forever. I just temporarily delayed your return teleportation by three days. When the time is up, you can get out of here yourself. They’ll have other things to worry about in three days and won’t have time for you.”

She leaned in slightly.

“I’m very curious. In these past five hours, you’ve been glancing at your wrist from time to time.”

Her voice was low.

“What’s on your hand?”

This time, Wu Wang’s heart really skipped a beat.

Dude, you’re the high and mighty Venerable of 【Desire】, why are you monitoring me 24/7 like some kind of voyeur? Don’t you have anything better to do? Why are you just like the Abyss God?

Whoosh!

Before he could even try to argue, Wu Wang found himself yanked directly in front of the 【Spirit Venerable of the Sea of Desire】.

His arm lifted uncontrollably, his sleeve rolling back on its own to expose his wrist, displaying the mark for Her to see.